Separable plural carton and blank therefor



Feb. 28, 1961 c. E. COTTRILL SEPARABLE PLURAL CARTON AND BLANK THEREFORFiled April 24, 1957 ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) i SEPARABLEPLURAL CARTON AND BLANK THEREFOR Charles E. Cottrill, Fairborn, Ohio,assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Packaging Corporation, NewYork, N.Y., a corporation of Virginia Filed A r. 24, 1957, Ser. No.654,919

2 Claims. Cl. 229-51 The present invention relates to a plural cartonand more particularly to a plural carton having individual compartmentswhich may be detached for separate use.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide adivisible plural carton whose individual compartments are securelyconnected for use as a unit, but may be readily detached for separateuse.

Another object of the invention is to provide a divisible plural carton,the ends of which are tightly sealed, either when used as a whole orwhen its compartments are detached for separate use.

Another object is to provide a divisible plural carton which may bereadily manufactured and assembled and one adapted to be pleasing inappearance whether used as a single plural carton or in the form ofdetached individual compartments.

Another object is to provide a divisible plural carton which is rigid inconstruction and adapted to Withstand the wear and tear of normal use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingspecification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the blank from which the present cartonstructure is formed;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the carton;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the carton shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the carton shown in Fig. 2, one endthereof having been opened, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the carton shown here somewhatdiagrammatically with its compartments separated.

Referring now more specifically to the invention, the carton, generallyindicated by the numeral 1, may be formed of a single blank 2 which isillustrated in Fig. 1. Blank 2 comprises nine vertical panels separatedby fold lines 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The center panel is adapted toform a front wall 11 and the blank is folded along lines 6 and 7 to formside walls 12 and 13. The back wall 14 is formed of two sections 15 and16 by folding the blank 2 along lines 5 and 8 and inwardly along lines 4and 9. The outer panels of the blank are again bent outwardly along foldlines 3 and toward walls 12 and 13 to form flaps 17 and 18 which areadhered to the underside of the front wall 11 by means of a suitableadhesive 11a. Portions 19 and 20 of the carton, which lie respectivelybetween section and flap 17 and between section 16 and flap 18, lie inabutting faceto-face contact to form a dual inner wall 21. The wall 21extends across the carton 2 between the front wall 11 and back wall 14dividing the carton along its entire extent into two sections A and B.

A pair of parallel perforated lines 23 and 24 are formed on the frontwall of the carton and extend the entire length thereof to form a tearstrip 25. Closure flaps 26 extend from either end of side walls 12 and13 and are adapted to be folded along fold lines 27 toward wall 21 tocover the ends of the carton. Similar flaps 2S and 29 are formed at theends of both sections of back wall 14. Flaps 28, extending from the endsof section 15, are tapered at their outer edges as shown at 28. Flaps29, extending from either end of section 16, are also tapered at theirouter edges as shown at 29' and are provided with an extended innerportion 30 adapted to overlie and be secured to flaps 28 by adhesivemeans (not shown). Flaps 28 and 29 are therefore adapted to cooperate asa single unit and are folded over along fold lines 31 and 32,respectively, to be secured above flaps 26 by suitable adhesive means(not shown). Another flap 33 is provided at each end of front wall 11and is adapted to be folded over along fold line 34 and secured aboveflaps 28 and 29 by adhesive means (not shown). Each fold line 34includes a slit 35 connecting the opposed ends of perforated lines 23and 24, and thus defining one end of the tear strip 25.

The carton in its assembled form is adapted to contain two items, or twogroups of items, of merchandise or the like. When it is desired to sellor use the individual items or groups of items separately, thecompartment A may be separated from compartment B by grasping one end oftear strip 25 at slit 35 and removing the strip as showndiagrammatically in Fig. 6. It should be noted that flaps 17 and 18 arenot secured by adhesive in the vicinity of tear strip 25 and that sincethe tear strip 25 is therefore not adhesively secured thereto it may bereadily removed from the carton. When the tear strip 25 is removed theend closure flaps connecting the two compartments are readily separablethrough the agency of perforated lines 36, provided in each flap 33, andperforated lines 37, in each flap 29. When the carton is torn alongperforated lines 36 and 37 compartment A remains enclosed at each end bythe respective halves of flap 33 which are secured above the majorportions of flaps 29, these flap portions being secured in turn above aflap 26. Similarly each end of compartment B is enclosed by theremaining half of one of the flaps 33 which is in turn secured above aunit comprising the flap 28 and the detached extended portion 30, thelatter unit being secured in turn above the other flap 26. The resultant two compartments comprise separate enclosed cartons readilyadapted to protect the goods contained therein. One entire side of theblank, namely the reverse side from that shown in Fig. 2 may be providedwith a conventional exterior finish and/or with suitable decoration andiudicia. It will be noted that the confronting faces of blank portions19 and 20 will thus present a pleasing exterior finish when thecompartments A and B are separated for individual use.

It will be further understood that various changes and modifications maybe made in the construction, design, and assembly of the cartondisclosed herein without departing from the spirit of the invention orthe scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A plural carton made from a single blank comprising a common frontwall panel, two outer side wall panels, one connected by a score line toone side of the common front wall panel and the other connected by ascore line to the other side of the common front wall panel, two rearwall panels opposite said common front wall panel, one connected by ascore line to one of said outer side wall panels and the other connectedby a score line to the other of said outer side Wall panels, two innerside wall panels, one connected by a score line to one of the rear wallpanels and the other connected by a score line to the other of the rearwall panels, tab means carried by each of the inner side wall panelsconnecting each of the inner side wall panels to the inner surface ofthe common front wall panel, whereby the inner side wall 3 panels aredisposed in side-by-side relationship, the tab means extending theentire longitudinal length of said carton, an end flap connected to anend edge of a panel forming part of one carton, another end flapconnected to an end edge of a panel forming part of the other carton,one of said end flaps having a bridging portion which extendsinfacc-to-face relationship with part of the other end fiap when both arein a closed position, said bridging portion of one end flap beingaffixed to the other end flap to join the two cartons together andprevent accidental separation of the inner side wall panels in thenormal handling of the plural carton before the separation of one fromthe other, a weakened connection joining said bridging portion to therespective end flap of which it forms an extension, permittingseparation of the end flaps when the cartons are to be divided, a tearstrip defined by two closely-spaced longitudinal weakened lines formedin the common front Wall panel and extending substantially the entirelongitudinal length, said tab means carried by the inner side wallpanels being adjacent but not afiixed to a portion of the tear strip andbeing adjacent and afiixed to a portion of the common front wall panel,whereby the tab means is free of the tear strip so that the tear stripcan be removed while leaving both cartons intact, the removal of thetear strip permitting separation of the cartons without the applicationof a twisting action to the cartons or the application of a force topull them apart.

2. A plural carton as set forth in claim 1 including a common end flapfor both cartons connected by a score line to the end edge of the commonfront wall panel, a weakened line through said common end flap to permitseparation of the common end flap when the cartons are divided, saidweakened line being substantially a continuation of the tear strip, anda slit in the score line joining the common end flap and the commonfront wall panel, said slit facilitating gripping of one end of the tearstrip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,046,485 Ringler July 7, 1936 2,053,726 Marshall Sept. 8, 19362,305,349 Goodwin Dec. 15, 1942 2,348,377 Goodyear May 9, 1944 2,390,412Axberg Dec. 4, 1945 2,448,795 Grecco Sept. 7, 1948 2,678,724 Andriot May18, 1954

